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The Electric Company was an educational show similar to Sesame Street, but intended for slightly older kids. It was designed to teach reading and grammar skills through a variety of skits over the course of a half-hour show. Featuring a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, and Rita Moreno, the show was not just educational, but cleverly entertaining and comedic.

In addition to the live cast, animated shorts were prominently featured. Although the majority of the animation was created by small production studios, a few skits featuring the Looney Tunes’ Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote were produced for the show. The longest and most entertaining of these Road Runner skits takes the two adversaries out of their usual roles and pits them against each other in a race.

A sign post with a green light similar to a traffic signal looms above the pair as they position themselves for the race. It flashes the words “ON YOUR MARK” and a few seconds later “GET SET.” Anticipating the word “go,” the Coyote jumps the gun and dashes forth. The Road Runner calls out his usual “Meep Meep” to the Coyote and gestures for him to come back to the starting line. Wile E. returns and Roadrunner points up to the sign, which now says (for some strange reason) “SMILE.”

The Coyote is understandably confused, and tries to comply with the sign. He grins slightly and the sign again flashes the word “SMILE.” The coyote finally forces himself to smile, after which, the sign flashes the word “LAUGH.” The coyote begins to chuckle and builds himself up to a roaring laugh. Yet again, the sign changes to another command, “SHUT UP,” followed quickly by, “CRY.” Obedient to the strange sign, Wile E. Coyote does an emotional turnabout and begins tearfully sobbing and wailing, after which the sign again prompts him to “SHUT UP.”

Then the sign goes haywire and flashes commmands at a rapid-fire pace, and we see the Coyote alternate between laughing and crying at a frenzied pace. After a few seconds of this ludicrous scenario, we finally see who is behind the controls of the sign and it is, as one might guess, the Road Runner. He glances at the audience, let’s out a final “Meep Meep,” and zips away in his characteristic manner. The sign flashes “GOOD-BYE,” apparently of its own accord, and the skit (as well as the show) comes to an end.

What’s interesting to note about this skit is the complete lack of cartoon violence that defines the Road Runner cartoon. It is entertaining nonetheless and is also educational in a cleverly passive way. The words flashed by the sign are never vocalized; it is up to the child watching to determine what the sign is telling the coyote to do.

Otherwise, the skit maintains the spirit of the original cartoon in the sense that, by the end, it is clear that the Road Runner has gotten the best of Wile E. Coyote once again.